What does Share of Freehold mean?

If the property you own or going to buy is share of freehold you will own a portion of the freehold and the freehold will be divided equally between all owners. For example if there are 4 share of freehold flats in a block, each flat will own 25% of the freehold.

Like leasehold properties, share of freehold properties will have a lease which will detail what you can and can’t do with the property and who is responsible for maintaining what. Unlike a leasehold property the share of freeholders will be responsible for creating a formal agreement about how the building will be run, they may either employ a management company to do this or form a company, have meetings and make decisions themselves.

The biggest positive differences between share of freehold and leasehold properties is that you probably won’t have to pay ground rent and extending the lease is usually a lot cheaper.

Share of Freehold: Negatives and Postivites

Negatives

You and the other freeholders will be responsible for managing the building, which can become a complex task. You all will need to decide how often to clean communal areas, how to maintain gardens, how to carry our repairs and be responsible for creating a sinking fund to pay for large repairs, such as the roof etc. Obviously with all these decisions disputes can arise between co-freeholders.

Positives

Owning a share of freehold property is often cheaper than owning a leasehold property. It is unusual to have to pay ground rent and lease extensions are often cheaper. Many share of freeholders appreciate being able to control where communal funds are spent and savings can be made when employing cleaners, gardeners, contractors etc.

Share of Freehold Conveyancing

You can expect to incur similar fees and complications as when you buy or sell a leasehold property.

With In-Deed the easiest and quickest way you can find out how much the conveyance will cost is to get a quote for a leasehold sale/purchase on our website. The quote we provide will include all the fees you will need to budget for and we do not charge extra for a Share of Freehold conveyance.

In regards to potential delays these are the same as a normal leasehold sale/purchase. The main ones to be aware of are the delays which can be caused by the management company or the other share of freeholders. When buying or selling your conveyancing lawyer will need a variety of information from these bodies and delays can arise if they are slow.

Conveyancing with In-Deed

In-Deed lawyers are experienced in dealing with share of freehold properties and your lawyer will be able to provide you with all the help and advice you need throughout the process.

If you would like to discuss your purchase/sale with your lawyer before instructing please let us know and we will have your lawyer contact you.